BERLIN: Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of the most important figures in German politics for decades and an icon of budgetary rigour in the eurozone, has died aged 81, the German parliament said Wednesday.

Schaeuble, who was a minister under chancellors Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, and played a key role in German reunification in 1990, died peacefully in the night, the Bild daily reported.

The current Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Schaeuble had “shaped our country for more than half a century”.

“Germany has lost a sharp thinker, passionate politician and pugnacious democrat,” Scholz wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Merkel also paid tribute to Schaeuble in a statement shared by her office, describing him as “an outstanding personality... who shaped our country in many ways.”